The Eastern Black Swallowtails pupated into much less showy, though equally beautiful, forms than the monarchs. They are excellently camouflaged on the brown branches - so much so that my dad almost crushed one when I showed it to him since he didn't see it.
An interesting contrast between the two butterflies (beyond the obvious superficial disparities) is that rather than hanging upside-down like the monarchs, the swallowtails suspend themselves vertically in a sort of "V" shape, with their rear prolegs attached to the surface.
After a good deal of wriggling, their skin split open to reveal the pupa in the same way it did with the monarchs.
Eventually the green of this pupa gave way to a dark brown.
To my surprise, one of the cats decided to pupate on the paper towel I lined the cage with. So I suppose that this shows the limits of the lighter range of pupal colors - I read that the color range was dramatic, but I hadn't anticipated this!
The shape is so bizarre and interesting!!
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